Method and apparatus for recommending content based on activities of a plurality of users

Abstract

A recommendation server is provided. The recommendation server includes a communicator configured to receive, from a first device, when a first user's input for communicating with a second user is received by the first device of the first user, a transmission request with respect to a list of a plurality of items of content related to an operation of the first device which was performed when the first user and the second user met each other; and a controller configured to determine a time when the first user and the second user met each other, based on at least one of first user's activity information of the first user and second user's activity information of the second user, and to provide, to the first device, a list of a plurality of items of content related to an operation of the first device which was performed at the determined time.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A recommendation server comprising:
 a communicator; and 
 a processor configured to:
 based on, by a first device, receiving an input of a first user to communicate with a second device of a second user for a call, receive, via the communicator from the first device, a request for a list of a plurality of items of content related to an operation of the first device performed when the first user and the second user met, 
 in response to receiving the request, compare first user's activity information comprising first location information and first time information of the first device to second user's activity information comprising second location information and second time information of the second device, the first user's activity information being obtained from schedule information of the first user and meta-information of content generated in the first device, the second user's activity information being obtained from schedule information of the second user and meta-information of content generated in the second device, 
 based on a result of the comparing, determine a time when the first user and the second user were in a same location, 
 based on the determined time, determine the list of the plurality of items of content related to the operation of the first device performed at the time when the first user and the second user met, 
 transmit, via the communicator to the first device, the list of the plurality of items of content for causing the first device to display the list of the plurality of items of content on a phone call screen of the first device, and 
 based on receiving an input of the first user selecting one of the plurality of items of content by the first device, receive, via the communicator from the first device, a request for transmitting the selected content to the second device for causing the second device to display the selected content on a phone call screen of the second device, 
 
 wherein the list of the plurality of items of content comprises a plurality of thumbnails of photos, and the plurality of thumbnails of photos are displayed by the first device in an order of generation time of the photos based on meta-information of each of the photos. 
 
     
     
       2. The recommendation server of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to provide, to the first device, identification information of an application to execute the plurality of items of content. 
     
     
       3. The recommendation server of  claim 1 , wherein the first user's activity information further comprises at least one of identification information of content that was executed in the first device, identification information of an application that executed the content, or information about a location where the content was executed. 
     
     
       4. The recommendation server of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the communicator is further configured to receive, from the first device, a request for sharing the plurality of items of content between the first user and the second user, and 
 wherein the processor is further configured to provide the content to the second device, in response to the request. 
 
     
     
       5. The recommendation server of  claim 1 , wherein the communicator is further configured to transmit, to the second device, the list of the plurality of items of content. 
     
     
       6. The recommendation server of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine a number of times contact occurred between the first user and the second user based on information about the second user which is stored in the first device, and 
 determine the second user as a user to share the plurality of items of content, when the number of times contact occurred is equal to or greater than a reference. 
 
     
     
       7. The recommendation server of  claim 1 , wherein the comparing of the first user's activity information to the second user's activity information is used to determine at least one particular time when the first user and the second user were in a same location at a same time. 
     
     
       8. The recommendation server of  claim 1 , wherein the first location information obtained from the meta-information of content comprises global positioning satellite (GPS) location information captured when the content is generated in the first device. 
     
     
       9. A first device comprising:
 a communicator; 
 a display; 
 a user input device; and 
 a controller configured to:
 transmit first user's activity information comprising first location information and first time information, the first location information and the first time information being obtained from schedule information of a first user and meta-information of content generated in the first device of the first user, 
 receive an input of the first user to communicate with a second device of a second user for a call, 
 in response to receiving the input, transmit, to a recommendation server, a request for a list of a plurality of items of content related to an operation of the first device performed at a time when the first user and the second user met, 
 based on the transmitting of the request, receive, via the communicator from the recommendation server, the list of the plurality of items of content, the plurality of items of content being generated in the first device at the time when the first user and the second user met; 
 control the display to display, on a phone call screen of the first device, the list of the plurality of items of content, and 
 in response to receiving an input of the first user selecting one of the plurality of items of content, transmit a request for transmitting the selected content to the second device for causing the second device to display the selected content on a phone call screen of the second device, 
 
 wherein the plurality of items of content comprises content generated in the first device at the time when the first user and the second user met, 
 wherein the list of the plurality of items of content comprises a plurality of thumbnails of photos, and the plurality of thumbnails of photos are displayed on the display in an order of generation time of the photos based on meta-information of each of the photos, and 
 wherein, based on the transmitting of the request for the list of the plurality of items of content, the recommendation server is configured to:
 compare the first user's activity information, which comprises the first location information and the first time information obtained from the schedule information of the first user and the meta-information of content generated in the first device, to second user's activity information comprising second location information and second time information obtained from schedule information of the second user and meta-information of content generated in the second device of the second user, and 
 based on a result of the comparing, determine the list of the plurality of items of content. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The first device of  claim 9 , wherein the communicator is further configured to receive, from the recommendation server, identification information of an application to execute the content. 
     
     
       11. The first device of  claim 9 , wherein the first user's activity information comprises at least one of identification information of content that was executed in the first device, identification information of an application that executed the content, information about a location where the content was executed, or the schedule information of the first user. 
     
     
       12. The first device of  claim 9 ,
 wherein the controller is further configured to determine a plurality of applications configured to execute content that is sharable with the second user, and 
 wherein the display is further configured to display a list of the plurality of applications, so that identification information of an application to execute the content is displayed first in the list. 
 
     
     
       13. The first device of  claim 12 ,
 wherein the user input device is further configured to receive a first user's input for selecting, from the list of the plurality of applications, the application to execute the content of the first device which was performed at the time when the first user and the second user met each other, and 
 wherein, when the first user's input for selecting the application is received, the display is further configured to display the list of the plurality of items of content executable by using the application, so that identification information of the content of the first device which was captured at the time when the first user and the second user met each other is displayed first in the list. 
 
     
     
       14. The first device of  claim 13 ,
 wherein the user input device is further configured to receive an input, by the first user, for requesting sharing of the content with the second user, and 
 wherein the controller is further configured to request the recommendation server to share the content between the first user and the second user. 
 
     
     
       15. A method performed by a recommendation server, the method comprising:
 based on, by a first device receiving an input of a first user to communicate with a second device of a second user for a call, receiving, from the first device, a request for a list of a plurality of items of content related to an operation of the first device performed when the first user and the second user met; 
 in response to receiving the request, comparing first user's activity information comprising first location information and first time information of the first device to second user's activity information comprising second location information and second time information of the second device, the first user's activity information being obtained from schedule information of the first user and meta-information of content generated in the first device, the second user's activity information being obtained from schedule information of the second user and meta-information of content generated in the second device; 
 based on a result of the comparing, determining a time when the first user and the second user were in a same location; 
 based on the determined time, determining the list of the plurality of items of content related to the operation of the first device performed at the time when the first user and the second user met; 
 transmitting, to the first device, the list of the plurality of items of content for causing the first device to display the list of the plurality of items of content on a phone call screen of the first device; and 
 based on receiving an input of the first user selecting one of the plurality of items of content by the first device, receiving, from the first device, a request for transmitting the selected content to the second device for causing the second device to display the selected content on a phone call screen of the second device, 
 wherein the list of the plurality of items of content comprising a plurality of thumbnails of photos, and the plurality of thumbnails of photos are displayed by the first device in an order of generation time of the photos based on meta-information of each of the photos. 
 
     
     
       16. A method performed by a first device, the method comprising:
 transmitting first user's activity information comprising first location information and first time information, the first location information and the first time information being obtained from schedule information of a first user and meta-information of content generated in the first device of the first user; 
 receiving an input of the first user to communicate with a second device of a second user for a call; 
 in response to receiving the input, transmitting, requesting to a recommendation server, a request for a list of a plurality of items of content related to an operation of the first device performed when the first user and the second user met; 
 based on the transmitting of the request, receiving, from the recommendation server, the list of the plurality of items of content, the plurality items of content being generated in the first device at a time when the first user and the second user met; 
 displaying the list of the plurality of items of content on a phone call screen of the first device; and 
 in response to receiving an input of the first user selecting one of the plurality of items of content, transmitting a request for transmitting the selected content to the second device for causing the second device to display the selected content on a phone call screen of the second device, 
 wherein the plurality of items of content comprises content generated in the first device at the time when the first user and the second user met, 
 wherein the list of the plurality of items of content comprises a plurality of thumbnails of photos, and the plurality of thumbnails of photos are displayed on a display of the first device in an order of generation time of the photos based on meta-information of each of the photos, and 
 wherein, based on the first device transmitting the request for the list of the plurality of items of content, the recommendation server is configured to:
 compare the first user's activity information, which comprises the first location information and the first time information obtained from the schedule information of the first user and the meta-information of content generated in the first device, to second user's activity information comprising second location information and second time information obtained from schedule information of the second user and meta-information of content generated in the second device of the second user, and 
 based on a result of the comparing, determine the list of the plurality of items of content. 
 
 
     
     
       17. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method according to  claim 15 .